Ophthalmology Business

OCT 2013

Ophthalmology Business is focused on business topics relevant to the entrepreneurial ophthalmologist. It offers editorial, opinion, and practical tips for physicians running an ophthalmic practice. It is a companion publication of EyeWorld.

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'American way,' it might be boring for them," said Mr. Mahdavi.
People from many Latin
American countries may have
had a more personal relationship
with their physicians when they
were growing up; physicians
might have even come to their
house and stayed for coffee to
catch up. Although that
approach won't usually work in
today's volume market, the lesson is that many older Hispanic
patients might expect their doctors to be more personable, Dr.
Korzenny explained. You can
find out about your niche market's approach to doctors and
medicine and train yourself and
your staff accordingly.
Another example: At The
Eye Specialists Center on the
outskirts of Chicago, medical
staff members see patients of
diverse backgrounds, including
Muslim, Spanish-speaking,
Palestinian, Greek, and more,
said Benjamin Ticho, MD,
Chicago Ridge, Ill. Staff members
noticed that some devout
Muslim patients who were waiting for appointments needed a
quiet area for their afternoon
prayers. They now make available a more private area of the
practice space so, if requested,
these patients can complete
their afternoon prayers.
Tap into your patient base to
help design your marketing
campaign. Let's say you're targeting the Chinese market in
your area. Form a small advisory
board with existing patients who
can review drafts of your marketing efforts. Pay these patients
a small honorarium for their
time. They'll tell you if your
efforts will likely attract more
business, Mr. Mahdavi said.
Don't overlook traditional
media. Although social media
and website advertising are the
6.
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focus these days for obvious reasons, niche cultural markets still
rely heavily on radio, newspaper,
and even TV stations geared
toward their communities. These
could be good places for your
ads.
In your ads, invite members
of your target community to an
open house or to just drop by
your practice and take a look to
make them feel more comfortable, Dr. Korzenny suggested.
Hire someone bilingual. Again,
if 20% of your patients or more
speak another language, then
you should have at least one
staff member who can communicate with them. However, Mr.
Mahdavi believes this person
can serve various roles in your
office. He/she might work as a
refractive counselor as well as a
technician. Or he/she might
work at the front desk. At Dr.
Ticho's practice, they always
make sure that at least one
Spanish-speaking person is in
the office. The important thing
is that physicians and other
medical staff have access to their
linguistic help as needed.
But don't assume that patients
cannot speak English, Dr.
Ticho said. In fact, many of the
patients his offices serve may
have another native language,
but they are bilingual. If they're
not, they'll usually bring a family member with them who can
speak English well. Even if these
patients can speak some English,
they usually like the comfort
of getting medical care issues
explained to them in their
native tongue, he said.
Rely on professional translation help for your marketing
materials. Say you're targeting a
local Mexican community and
you have someone in your office
from the Caribbean who speaks
Spanish. Although the two
Ophthalmology Business • October 2013
groups can obviously communicate, they have word- and
phrase-level differences, so written materials can get lost in
translation, not unlike the difference between American and
British English. You'll want to
rely on a translator or translation organization that knows the
nuances of the language.
9. Use a cultural insight that you
can include in your marketing,
Dr. Korzenny suggested. One
example: Is diabetes or glaucoma
more common in the population you are targeting? That's
something you could mention
in your ads and focus on the
importance of regular exams
or using targeted medications.
"Find a cultural insight to show
that you'll treat them better
than the competition," Dr.
Korzenny said.
10. Learn a few phrases. Dr. Ticho
has learned a few eye examrelated phrases in Greek,
Spanish, and even Chinese. "I'll
tell them it's the one thing I
know in their language, but
patients really appreciate it, and
it provides comic relief," he said.
11. Think long term. Some of the
patients that Dr. Ticho's offices
serve are on public assistance,
which can create some payment
and reimbursement headaches.
However, his office sees patients
of all ages, and they'll often find
that patients will return with
other family members who may
have insurance or be in better
positions to pay for their eyecare. "We want to be as welcoming as we can," he said. OB
Contact information
Korzenny: 850-583-0378,
fkorzenny@gmail.com
Mahdavi: 925-425-9900,
shareef@sm2strategic.com
Ticho: 708-423-4070, bticho@mac.com